The Bonney Read, Asbury Park, NJ:
A Restaurant Review
525 Cookman Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ
732-455-3352
Website
Fare: Chowder House Style Seafood
Price: Expensive
Food Quality: 3 Stars
Service: 2 1/2 Stars
Decor: 3 Stars
Overall Rating: 3 Stars
Note: Four star Rating System from 1/2 Star = Poor to Four stars = Best in Class
One of the top seafood restaurants in Asbury Park
Uses sustainable local fresh caught seafood. (Not Farm Raised)
Value: Excellent
Noise Level: High during peak hours
Dress: Casual
Recommended For: Diners who enjoy simply prepared fresh, locally caught seafood in an attractive industrial chic setting
Not Recommended For: Diners who prefer a casual family style seafood menu with many dishes prepared with heavy sauces or fried in breadcrumbs.
Recommended dishes: When available, The Whole Maine Lobster roll with lemon, celery, dill, fries, & coleslaw; The Ipswich Steamer Clams with Parsley, lemon, drawn butter; and The Fresh Catch of the Day, simply grilled, lemon-herb oil, coleslaw, and loaded baked potato.
Liquor: Full bar service featuring a good selection of rums, beer, wines, and cocktail's
Restaurant Review
The Bonney Read, located in the historic Steinbach building, is one of the top seafood restaurants in the Asbury Park area.
The Bonney Read, the sister restaurant of the Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten is owned by investors Andrej Ivanov and Ladislav Sebestyan who have partnered with Executive Chef James Avery. Chef Avery also serves as the Executive Chef of the nearby Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten.
Executive Chef Avery received his formal culinary education in Culinary Arts at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. He later honed his skills at David Burke's Formagerie in Rumson, The Sea Blue and Dos Camino both in Atlantic City.
The restaurant's name is taken from two infamous female pirates, Anne Bonney and Mary Read, who together captained the pirate sloop "Revenge" in Caribbean waters alongside "Calico Jack" Rackham.
The attractive decor is retro-industrial chic with high open ceilings, reclaimed distressed wood, light fixtures with Edison style light bulbs, subway tiles, and an open kitchen. The setting has a nautical theme enhanced by the large wooden boat hull like fixture hanging over the bar.
Chef Avery oversees the kitchen in creating a well prepared chowder house style menu using sustainable locally sourced seafood. None of the seafood is farm raised.
The menu features fresh caught seafood, simply prepared, without heavy sauces and little if any, fried breadcrumbs that mask the taste. The raw bar offers a selection of oysters and clams shucked and served either raw or hot.
This is not a place for carnivores. There is a very limited selection of meat items. Menu items also are short on vegetable accompaniments & sides.
Service is friendly & attentive.
During the warmer months there is outside, al fresco sidewalk dining on picnic tables and benches.
The Bonney Read is open six days/week, Closed on Tuesdays
Open Mon, Weds, Thurs: 4–10pm, Fri: 4–11pm, Sat: 12–11pm, & Sun: 12–9pm
Happy Hour (at the Bar area only) is offered on Wednesdays (all Night) and Thu-Fri: 4–7pm; Sat-Sun: 2–6pm
(updated: June, 2018)
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